Backup and secure your data

Protecting your data and systems is an important part of business continuity planning.

Your business data is one of the most valuable assets of your business. Therefore it’s important to make sure you store your data (including financial, registration and customer records) and other important business documents in a safe location.

Regardless of what format your records are kept in (digital or hard copy), you should ensure that you:

have more than one copy

store the copies in separate locations.

Protecting digital records

If you have digital records, it's important to perform regular backups and store the backup in a secure off site location.

When considering which data protection devices to use, make sure that they are suitable for the type of data you need to store. For example, some fire proof safes should not be used for digital data as disc drives, CDs or USBs will melt in high temperatures.

An alternative for storing digital data is to store it in a “cloud”. Cloud computing means storing your data in a server that is located in a protected and secure location off site. The site of where your information is stored can be physically very far from you, including overseas. You can then access your information from anywhere, as long as you have access to the internet or other digital network depending on how you have set it up.

Aside from storage of your digital information, it’s also important to make sure you have proper data protection measure in place to protect your data from hackers and other malicious data attacks. If you're connected to a network, try to have:

proper up-to-date virus protection

secure networks and firewalls

secure password protection procedures.

If you're unsure how to protect your digital data, talk to a security service provider.

Even if insurance is not compulsory, it’s still a good idea to take out the right insurance to protect your business.

Public Liability

Public liability insurance protects you and your business against the financial risk of being found liable for negligence. Negligence is when you haven’t taken actions to prevent reasonably foreseeable harm, including:

injury or death, such as due to an unmarked hazard causing injury to a customer

negligent advice, such as saying a company or employee is performing well when they’re not

nervous shock, such as emotional distress or a recognised psychiatric illnesses

property damage, such as not having safety measures in place for an activity which causes a fire.

Workers’ compensation (if you have employees)

If you’re an employer, you must take out workers' compensation insurance to protect your employees against financial hardship as a result of a workplace accident.

In most cases, you will need to provide workers’ compensation insurance for accidents and sickness through an approved insurer. Workers’ compensation is covered by separate state and territory legislation.

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to them and their cultures and to the elders past and present.